Card-index.



C. A. MEIUKE.

CARD lNDEX.

APPLICATION 'FILED AuG.22, 1914.

1 149,384. Patented Aug. 10, 19E.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

C. A. MEILICKE.

CARD INDEX.

APPLICATION FILED Aue.22, 1914.

Patented Aug. 10, 1915.

3 SHEETS--SHEET 2.

der

C. A. MEILICKE.

CARD INDEX.

APPLICATION man Aue. 22. 1914-.

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UNTED STATES CARL A. NEIL-ECKE, OF CHICAGO, LLINOES.

CARD-INDEX.

Application filed August 22, 19M.

To all 107mm` it may confiera Be it known that I. Gann A. Minimum, a subject of the King of Great Britain. residing at Chicago, in the county ot Cool; and State of Illinois. have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Card-Indexes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in loose-leatl card-indexes and the like; the particular struct-ure shown as an exemplitieation of: my invention being,r an express-rate index or calculator.

lt will be apparent that iniormationas to express rates from a given center-say Chicagoto all points in the United States reachable by express. constitutes a volume ol data lthat will be changed only rarely. as when new express stations are' created or rates are changed. A Compilation ot such information may therei'ore conveniently be in printed torni and although the individual units, or leaves, bearingdata should be reino "able, for replacement whenever occasion may require, the compilation is, in a sense.l a perinaneney7 and its'ordinary use from day to day does not. involve bodily displacement of any of its parts. Similar Conditions. in general, are niet with in man)v other compilations ot data and information, and it is particularly with reference to loose lea i devices for such use that. in v invention. in some of its aspects, has to do. it will. however, he apparent that in man v features inv invention is usable i'or other purposes. as in the keeping` et' bool; entries of small aeeounts, and the like.

`The general object of m), invention lo provide a simple, durable, eilcientapparatus adapted 'for facile. and rapid manipulation and indexed to give read v :x4-cess to the desired appropriate card. and further objects of n'rv invention will heroine apparent from the following` description taken in conjunction with the aeeompanying drawin L's` in which- Figure l is a perspective view of a strueture embodying my invention with parts oi its loose leaves removed. Fig. 2 a side elevation of the samerwith a fragment insection; Fig. is a planview showing the structure in u; i; Figs. l and o are enlarged iraginentaryY detail sections on lines l-l Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Ano. it?, i915.

Serial No. 858,060.

and 5-55 of Fig. l. Fig. is an enlarged cross section of fragments of the individual leai'; Fie'. T is a horizontal section on line 7 7 ot' Fig'. Figs. S and 9 are front and rear views of individual leaves.

The collected printed data is displayed7 or the receptive surfaces for reception of notations are 'presented on leaves 10, either on the front or rear surface thereof. or on both. llach oil these leaves Consists of a stub ll and a still card l2 connected by a flexible tain-ie hinge lil. To torni such strucinre i make the leaf-sheets of three thicknesses, thin. l?)y the eenter layer o being;v fabric. surh as linen. and 'liront and bach iacinns t and ff" heine paper. pasted thereon. 'lo secure the desired hinging llexihilitv the two paper Y i leavin'V o the 'lalirie along 'he narrow hinge line; ihrs being; preferably aeromplished in practice by grindingor cutting' a'wzrv the paper 'n opposite grooves c that extend down lo the tabrie on the hinge line. letween the stubs ll of the sueressive leaves l arrange .spaeers il. eaeh pre'l'erahlv about the thin-hue.; ol' one ol the card stubs so that earh data-hearing card ma \y readilj.' he moved through au are ol: about 90 degrees without inlerleit-iar from the adjoining aards. Snell #construction rives each still' card freedom io opru, unall'erted by any other rart'ls and without ani' resilieneiv that would tend to more anv ward so that the card-volume ma): he opera-'l at any point from its front leal' lo as hail; leal' and will stand quiescent with its; raris lull); open at the desired point to the extent el ahout a El() degree angle. so giving' perleet uniformitv oi1 reading` eoudition` and lfreedom Jrom liahilit'v to losingr the desired piave. To pio.

vide these spacers. l preferably .forni them integral with the leal-stubs. groovine' the .sheets as at fr' between stub 'il and shaver l l so that the stub and spacer nrajv be folded l'lat. ii'aee to tare. l't' a substantially lim opening' leal' is desired l add another spar il?" in the same wav2 as shown in Fig.. tl. hes-e cards.. il). are mounted Vin a traine which ma)v he eetairzrular frame border of iron having' sie rails 1T with bottoni flanges 1S entendin; inwardl;v therefrom and front and rear end rails l) and 20 that have simix l A 'latines are interrupted as at lf,

.for the cards. A

lar flanges. This frame is vpreferably writtennotes I' increase the angular pitch of y the frame, and make the cards to open down substantially horizontal, but for an index such as an express rate index I regard the ,Y

degree opening and slighter pitch as preferable. he leaf stubs and spacers rest on the flanges 18 at their sides andhfor retentionrin the frame each stub'and ,spacerhas in its stub an opening 23`intersecting a narrow slot 244 that leads to thebottom edge of the stub. A locking bar 25 is mountg ed in the frameto engage these openings, said bar having a cylindrical bearing end 26 engaging and bearing in the front rail 19, and the flattened bar engaging in a suitable circular opening 27 in the rear rail 20. Obviously the flat extremity of the bar in the round opening 27 may be engaged by a key so that the bar may be turned to vertical position as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 8 to permit the removal of any card or cards,

each with its attached spacer or spacers, or

it may be turned to the position shown in full lineis/ in Fig. 8, to hold all of tlre stubs and spacers in place. To compress the stubs to hold them tightly in place, they are engaged, preferably at the rear end of thel frame, by a follower stri 30 that fits between the side rails and bears on the side flanges 18, said follower havin a wing 31 extending above the framel an tilted back beyond right angles tothe plane thereof so as to form a back rest for the cards preferably arranged at about 30 degrees from vertical. Screws 32 taking through apertures in the rear rail 20 enable said follower to be adjusted forward nso as to compress the stubsv against the front rail 19, whlch preferably is provided with a low stud 34 suitably arranged at an angle, preferably at about 90,

degrees to the back rest 31 andvagainst which the cards may drop as a front stop. A thick cover card 10a, madev especially sti may be used as a frontmost member of theA card set, acting when thrown forward against stop 34 as a front-mest oi' platform The cards are preferably. provided with individual index tabs 40, arranged so that successive tabs of each group or order partially overlap each other, the lfirst tab being close to the left end of the card, dr the area thereof alotted to the tabs, thle next tab being a little farther' toward the right and so on,v with the next orderof tabs beginning, as the particular layout gofthel systemimay require, at a point sufficiently spaced'lengthwise of the index so thatI the entire rst tab thereof may be readily seenl It is frequently necessary vthat a number of cards relating to the same general index heading shall be specifically sub-indexed; and I preelf'th-aft where practicable, each generali' `,eading shall begin a new Vorder.v On both 70 thefro'ntv and rear surface of each tab I prefer that there sha-ll bea note, of the common Vheading as jat 41, and aj note ofthe specific sub-index heading as at 42, the firsty mentioned general heading being'on the portion of the tab which is covered by the tab of the adjoining ca'rd nearer to the eye of the reader, and the sub-index `information being dlsplayed beyond said nearer-the-eye tab. Thus, as best indicated in Figs. 8 and 80 9, Where the State index Cal (for Cali7 fornia) indicated at 41 is the general index mark and the sub-index Ke is indicated at 42, said sub index vmark is given at the right on the front face of the tab and at the g5 left on the rear face ofthe tab. On the back of the tab, and on the card, all markings are upside down. This because, as best shown in Fig. 3, when the index is opened in the. middle the generall index mark of 90 the order of tabs can always be read on the card immediately o ened and the specic index marks 42 of other sub-headings of that .order will appear reading to the right on the cards that` have not been opened and v9:5

to the left on the cards that have been opened. Thus the user may run forward or backward through the index with equal fa` cility, the approximately-90degree opening of the cards and the sloping of the index 100 frame effectively presenting at all times both thefront face of one card and the reverse face'of the preceding card. In this way I am enabled to use `both faces of the card for display ofdata.'

,Y In the specific exemplification shown, where both card-faces are v'so to be utilizedh 4I may utilize opposite faces for differentA associated purposes; and to this end I double-index the cards, and provide a second tab 40" on each card .that has data on its. back. The tabs 40 are all arranged on the left half' of their cards, tabs 40 on the right half. Particularly I may display on the front face of each card a list of express stations, and -in designated columns 45, 46, 47 and 48 I may display respectively an abbreviated indication of the company or coinpanies serving that station'; the express rate per hundred; a scale number; and the parcels-post zone. The scale number will refer to a scale on which the exact expressage on any weight less than 100 lbs. is displayed, and a set of these scales (which in the matter of express rates will number nearly 300) may be displayed Aon the backs'of the cards, so'

vthat the respective tabs 40 at the right of the cards may bear sequential scale numbers 42 in orders of ten, and also, for convenience, the 100-lb. rate, at 41. As shown 130 siderable detail the arrangement of data particularly useful in determining express rates, it will be apparent that the same concept may be embodied for the display or notation of Widely'different data or information; and that in its other mechanical features my invention may be used for different purposes. I do not desire therefore to be understood as limiting my invention to the particular use I have Ydescribed ,by way of full illustration of one utilization thereof, further than specified in the claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

l. In removable-leaf index, the combination of a frame, leaves each comprising a stub portion and a card portion, both consisting of a central ply of fabric and surface plies of paper, said stub and card connected by a hinged portion of the fabric only, spacer stubs between adjoining leaf stubs, and means for clamping the stubs in the frame.

2. In a loose-leaf index, the combination of a border frame, leaves therein, each coinprising a stub and card consisting of a central ply of fabric and surface plies of paper, said stub and card united by a hinge of said fabric alone; spacers between the leat stubs each substantially equal in thickness to a leaf stub, andmeans for holding said stubs in the frame.

3. In a. loose-leaf index, the combination of a border frame, leaves therein. each comprising a stub and card consisting of a central ply of fabric and surface plies of paper, said stub and card united by a hinge of said fabric alone; spacers between the leaf stubs each spacer being of substantially the same size as a leaf-stub, and hingedly connected thereto.

if. In a loose-leaf index, the combination of sheets.v each comprising a stub, a hinge, and a leaf connected with said stub by said hinge, of a frame enveloping said stubs, a'

hinge. connecting said card and stub; each said stub having tliereln a bnttonhole slot; a flattened lock-bar mounted in the frame for rotation therein and engaging the button-hole slots; a follower interposed between one end-stub and an end-rail of the frame, and pressure screws takin through said frame rail acting on said fol otter.

(S. In a. loose-leaf index, the combination of a rectangular frame, having bottom flanges at its sides, a plurality of sheets each comprising a stub of substantially the depth of said frame, a card and an attenaated hinge connecting said card and stub; each sai stub having therein a button-hole slot; la flattened lock-bar mounted in the frame for rotation therein engaging the button-hole slots; a follower interposed between one end-stub and an end-rail of the frame, and pressure screws taking through said frame rail acting on said follower, said follower having a Wing extension extending above the frame inclined at an acute angle to the plane of the frame, and said frame at its other end having a stop inclined at an angle of about 90 degrges to said winfr.

l. In a removable leaf index, the combiaton of a frame, a. plurality of relatively stiff sheets mounted therein, each comprising a stub in the frame, a data bearing card and a connecting attenuated hinge, spacer stubs between the sheet stubs and hingedy connected thereto; means associated with the traine for clamping said st-nbs;`stops associated with the frame for limiting the card movement to approximately 90 degrees: said cards bearing data on opposite faces thereof, and having lapping each other when viewed either forwardly or backwardly, and similar indexr data printed on opposite faces of each tab at respectively opposite ends that are visibl i accordingly as the card is viewed from the front or from the back.

sheet for a card index conn'irising a card portion and a stub portion hingeconnected, said card portion bearing an inde-K tab provided on each face with general indication and a siiecitic indication. said indications being` transposed in transverse position and reversed in reading position on opposite faces of the tab.

9. sheet for a card index comprising a veneered structure consisting of a central fabric. paper 't'acings on both sides thereof, said paper cut away along a hinge line connecting' the card-portion and stub-portion of said sheet, said card portion bearing an index tab provided on each face with a general indication and a specific indication, said. imlicntions beingr transposed in transverse position and reversed in reading posit-ion on opposite faces of the tab` ll). il. sheet for a card index comprising tabs partly oyen' a central Iaorie and paper facings, said hand in the presenee'of two subscribing wtfacings cut away on a plurality of parallel messes.

lines leaving fabric hinges, and dividing CARL MEILICKE. l

thevsheet into a card and a plurality-of i hingedly connected stubs, said stubs being In the presence olf-'- of substantially equal Width. FORE BAIN,

Tn testimony whereof I hereunto set my MARY F. ALLEN. 

